How Low-Carb Diets Work

By Karla Samuels, Feb 10, 2019

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Low-carb diets offer plenty of benefits. Let us take a look at how low-carb diets exert their beneficial effects on the body.
Reduce caloric density and increase nutrient density. When you are following a low-carb diet, you go for kale chips instead of eating potato chips. You order salad instead of your usual meal. These subtle changes don’t just reduce the amount of calories and calories you eat, but also increase the density of phytochemicals and micronutrients you consume. Many of these phytochemicals and micronutrients have beneficial metabolic effects.

Increase fat

Fat slows gastric emptying. When it takes longer for the food to pass through the gut, you stay full for a longer period of time. When you are full, you don’t want to eat and when this happens, your intake of calorie drops and you lose weight.

Reduce sugar

A low-carb diet reduces sugar and lowers the possibility of a fructose-induced metabolic problem.

Increase protein

Increasing your intake of protein offers plenty of benefits, especially if you are trying to lose weight. Protein boosts satiation. More protein also helps you gain or maintain lean mass during your weight loss attempt. Studies show that more protein results in greater lean mass retention and better burning of fat during weight loss. Increased muscle mass contributes to better resting energy expenditure, which helps you burn more calories through exercise.

Reduce glycogen

Larger muscles are capable of storing more glycogen. The average person can store about 400 grams of carbs between liver glycogen and skeletal muscle. When your glycogen stores are always topped off, the extra carbohydrates don’t have anywhere to go. You either convert it into fat that will be stored in the liver or burn it right away. Reduction of carbs reduces glycogen. That is partly why you lose lots of water weight when you follow a low-carb diet. Glycogen depletion acts as the switch for the body and brain to start using fat for energy.
A low-carb diet is also delicious. Eating sautéed mushrooms and steak feels like cheating. Search for low-carb recipes that you can prepare at home. An overweight person who increases his intake of protein and reduces carbs quickly loses weight. Once you see the results, you will be motivated to continue your effort.

Eliminate fattening foods

Fat and carbs are something you just cannot stop eating. If you want to reduce your carbs, you need to remove fat and carbs from your diet. Without carbs, it is harder to over eat fat. If you love potato chips or cheesecake, you need to find healthier options. This way, you can eliminate the fattening foods from your diet. Some say that you could just get rid of fat to make foods with lots of carbs less addictive. While that is true, removing the two from your diet will give you much better results.
Don’t forget to pair a low-carb diet with exercise. Jogging, walking and running are only some of the simple exercises that you can try.